Device authentication in a PKI

ABSTRACT

A method for establishing a link key between correspondents in a public key cryptographic scheme, one of the correspondents being an authenticating device and the other being an authenticated device. The method also provides a means for mutual authentication of the devices. The authenticating device may be a personalized device, such as a mobile phone, and the authenticated device may be a headset. The method for establishing the link key includes the step of introducing the first correspondent and the second correspondent within a predetermined distance, establishing a key agreement and implementing challenge-response routine for authentication. Advantageously, main-in-the middle attacks are minimized.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No.10/117,186 filed on Apr. 8, 2002 now U.S. Pat. No. 7,516,325 whichclaims priority from U.S. Provisional Application No. 60/281,556 filedon Apr. 6, 2001 all of which are incorporated by reference.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

This invention relates to the field of cryptology and in particular to amethod for authenticating wireless devices in a PKI scheme.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

In the past wireless devices were limited in applications, were notalways interoperable and were only available from a few vendors.However, today emerging wireless standards and products are fuellinggrowth in the wireless communications market. This growth has also beenaided by a number of factors, such as, the availability of a range ofunlicensed frequencies in the 2.40 ti 2.48 GHz band and 5 GHz band, alarger mobile work force and the globalization of electronic commerce.One of the well-known standards is the BLUETOOTH® specification,developed by a CONSORTIUM OF COMPANIES, THE Bluetooth Special InterestGroup (SIG) and a trademark of Ericsson, Sweden. The BLUETOOTHspecifications defines a universal radio interface in the 2.45 GHzfrequency band that enables wireless electronic devices to connect andcommunicate wirelessly via short-range, ad hoc networks. The typicalcommunication range of a BLUETOOTH wireless device is 30 to 100 feet.

Generally, wireless devices built according to the BLUETOOTHspecification include a link level security feature that enables thesedevices to authenticate each other and encrypt their communicationsusing a symmetric link key shared between the two devices. Typically, apairing procedure is defined, which enables a user to establish a linkkey shared between two devices, where the two devices may be previouslyunknown to one another.

One security problem in the pairing procedure of the current BLUETOOTHspecification results from the fact that radio signals can be easilyintercepted. It has therefore been suggested that a user performing thepairing procedure should be in a private area such as his home or whereit is less likely that the communication between the devices beingpaired could be eavesdropped. Therefore pairing in a public place wherean attacker could easily eavesdrop on the communication between thedevices being paired is discouraged.

At present, the pairing procedure requires the manual entry of a code ora personal identification number (PIN) into one or both of the devices.However, if the small-sized pin PIN is chosen to facilitate manualentry, then it is possible for an eavesdropper to determine the linkkey. Therefore, the number of digits or characters in the PIN must beunreasonably large in order to ensure that an eavesdropper cannotdetermine the link key. Typically, entry of even a short PIN is tediousfor the user of the devices and prone to error; while using a PIN longenough to be secure is even worse. Furthermore, some devices are notexpected to have a user interface that is conducive to the entry of aPIN. For example, a BLUETOOTH headset may be paired to a mobiletelephone, such that the headset may include an input device such as abutton and the telephone would include an input device and an outputdevice such as a display. It is currently contemplated that a newheadset would included a pre-programmed PIN, and in order to pair theheadset with the phone, the user is required to enter the PIN using thekeypad of the phone.

One of the solutions presented for facilitating pairing are techniquessuch as Diffie-Hellman protocol that can be used to establish a sharedkey. However, techniques such as Diffie-Hellman are vulnerable to aman-in-the-middle attack. Prior art methods have been established thatuse a key agreement technique such as Diffie-Hellman followed by averification step to establish a shared key, the purpose of theverification step being to detect a man-in-the-middle attack. Forexample, U.S. Pat. No. 5,450,493 describes a scheme in which two devicescommunicate over an insecure telephone line and perform a Diffie-Hellmankey agreement to establish a shared secret. Although it is known that itis possible for an attacker to force both devices to establish the sameshared secret via a small subgroup attack, it is possible to defeat thesmall subgroup attack, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,933,504 toVanstone, et al.

The following methods have been proposed to prevent these attacks, theseinclude checking that the Diffie-Hellman shared secret does not lie in asmall subgroup and rejecting the secret if it does, or using a secondaryshared secret derived as the bash of the Diffie-Hellman shared secretand the exchanged public keys. Following the key agreement, an antispoofvariable based upon the shared key is computed independently by each ofthe communicating devices. The antispoof variable is then displayed toboth devices and over the insecure telephone line the two devices thenverbally determine if the antispoof variable is the same. One could readthe antispoof variable to the other, for example. The assumption made isthat a perpetrator of a man-in-the-middle attack would be detectedbecause of the difficulty in forging the voice of the communicatingdevices.

This technique may be applied to the BLUETOOTH headset pairing scenario.However, for this scenario, there is only one user involved. Afterinitiating the pairing the headset and phone would perform a keyagreement such as Diffie-Hellman. The devices could compute theantispoof variable based upon the shared key. The phone could thendisplay the antispoof variable on its display. The headset has nodisplay, but it could take the place of the other user and usetext-to-speech capability to automatically transmit the digits of thevariable to the phone over the BLUETOOTH link as audio. The phone wouldplay the audio. The user could then listen to the value on the phone andcompare it to the value on the display. A man-in-the-middle attack is aproblem for this method since it would be easy for an attacker to forgethe audio output of a text-to-speech capability and transmit forgedspeech to the phone.

Other public key methods can be used to establish a shared key in such away as to be resistant to a man-in-the middle attack. Public key methodsmay be impractical for use in the BLUETOOTH headset pairing scenario(and in other BLUETOOTH pairing scenarios). To use public key methodsthe headset and phone, would both have public keys and private keys. Acertificate signed by a Certificate Authority would be required for eachdevice in order to avoid a man-in-the-middle attack. A certificatetypically only has a limited validity period, so a device must have anaccurate time source in order to validate a certificate. Anout-of-the-box BLUETOOTH headset would be unlikely to have an accuratetime source, so it may be unable to validate a certificate. Furthermore,to validate a certificate, an online check with a server on the Internetmay be required to check a certificate revocation list or an onlinecertificate status protocol client. This online check guards against thecompromise of a device's private key. Without this check, the devicesmay be vulnerable to a man-in-the-middle attack perpetrated by anattacker having a compromised private key. In some circumstances it maybe possible for a phone to make the online check if it has Internetconnectivity. However, it would be desirable to pair a phone with aheadset before a phone has established service with a service provider.For example, a user may wish to establish a link key between a new phoneand a new headset, then use the headset and phone to sign up for servicean over-the-air service provisioning procedure. Sensitive informationwould be sent from the headset to phone and then to the serviceprovider; this information requires protection even before the phone hasbeen provisioned over the air.

The desirability of authenticating the location of a correspondent in awireless environment is recognized in U.S. Pat. No. 5,659,617. It isproposed that the exact location of a correspondent can be obtainedusing GPS to ensure that certain acts are performed in designatedlocations, for example, the signing of a certificate within a bank. Itis also proposed to determine the position of a correspondent bymeasuring its distance from a fixed beacon. However, such an arrangementwithin the context of a BLUETOOTH device would require the provision ofa fixed beacon and information about acceptable location in which theparticular devices could be paired.

Moreover, this technique requires that a security relationship alreadyexist between the two devices via the use of certificates and PKI;obviously this is an unacceptable constraint since the object is toestablish a security relationship when none exists. Furthermore,according to the embodiments shown, distance from a fixed beacon ismeasured by having the measuring device transmit a signal to themeasured device using RF, for example. The measured device then receivesthe transmitted signal, which may include some sort of challenge. Themeasured device then performs some sort of cryptographic operation tothe measuring device. The measuring device then measures the time of thereceipt of the response. The measuring device then computes a round triptime by subtracting the time at which its signal was transmitted fromthe time of the receipt of the response.

The round trip time includes two components. The first component is theprocessing time required by the measured device to recover the signalfrom the measuring device, determine the response (potentially includingcryptographic operations), and begin transmitting the response. Thisfirst component is a fixed predetermined value that gives a measureddevice adequate time to perform any appropriate processing. Examples ofthe processing are cryptographic operations and also conventionaltechniques used in digital radios such as despreading, deinterleaving,and decoding of the received signal and encoding interleaving andspreading of the transmitted signal.

The second component is the time it actually takes the RF signal totravel from the measuring device to the measured device and then fromthe measured device to the measuring device. Since RF signals travel atthe speed of light, the measuring device computes the distance by takingthe difference between the round trip time and the fixed first componentallocated for processing and multiplying this difference by the speed oflight divided by two.

It should be noted that the distance light could travel during theprocessing time allocated for the first component of the round trip timeis large compared to the distances being measured. For example, supposethat the processing time allocated is one microsecond. The speed oflight is approximately one foot per nanosecond which means, that in theallocated microsecond, light could travel about 1000 feet which wouldcorrespond to a measured distance between two devices of 500 feet. Itshould be further noted that in a conventional microprocessor onemicrosecond would not be long enough to perform cryptographic operationsused by the prior art techniques. A legitimate device being measuredobserves the fixed processing time and transmits the return signalprecisely after the amount of processing time allocated. A device usedby an attacker to perpetrate a man-in-the-middle attack need not abideby the fixed processing time. An attacking device may return a responsesooner than if it abided by the fixed processing time. For example,suppose an attacking device is 20 feet away from the measuring deviceand wishes to appear to be only one foot away. As long as the attackercan prepare the response 38 nanoseconds sooner than the fixed processingtime, it can do so. The attacking device can remove 38 nanoseconds fromthe fixed processing time (returning the response 38 nanoseconds soonerthan a legitimate device would) and therefore appear to be within onefoot of the measuring device.

For devices that are capable of infrared communication using a standardsuch as the IrDA standards it has been suggested in the prior art thatestablishment of a link key between two devices may be accomplished byhaving one device transmit the BLUETOOTH PIN in plaintext to the otherdevice using an infrared transmission. This would make it possible foran eavesdropper capable of receiving infrared transmissions to determinethe link key and eavesdrop on the communication between the two devices.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to obviate ormitigate one or more of the above disadvantages.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

In accordance with one of its aspects, the invention provides a methodfor establishing a link key between correspondents in a public keycryptographic scheme, one of the correspondents being an authenticatingdevice and the other being an authenticated device The method alsoprovides a means for mutual authentication of the devices. The methodfor establishing the link key includes the steps of introducing thefirst correspondent and the second correspondent within a predetermineddistance and establishing a key agreement and implementingchallenge-response routine for authentication. Advantageously,eavesdropping or man-in-the middle attacks are minimized.

In another aspect of the invention, the invention provides a method forestablishing a key between a first device and a second device, andincludes the step of establishing a shared secret in the first deviceand in the second device. The method also includes the substeps of:calculating an antispoof variable based at least in part upon the sharedsecret in the first device and in the second device, the antispoofvariable being represented by a plurality of digits; indicating thedigits of the antispoof variable from the first device to a user using afirst stimulus; indicating the digits of the antispoof variable from thesecond device to the user using a second stimulus; verifying that thedigits of the antispoof variable from the first device and the seconddevice are the same; and establishing the key based upon the result ofthe verifying step.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the preferred embodiments of the inventionwill become more apparent in the following detailed description in whichreference is made to the appended drawings wherein:

FIG. 1 is a schematic representation of a communication system;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram representation of a mobile telephone;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a personal digital assistant (PDA);

FIG. 4 is a block diagram of a headset;

FIG. 5 is a user performing a pairing procedure between the headset andthe telephone;

FIG. 5A is a flowchart outlining the steps for pairing devices;

FIG. 6 is another example of a user performing a pairing procedurebetween a headset and a telephone;

FIG. 7 is an example of pairing of two devices belonging to two users;

FIG. 8 is an example of two users pairing two headsets;

FIG. 9 is a user pairing two devices that support infra-redcommunication;

FIG. 10 is a user pairing two devices that support audio communication;

FIG. 11 is a user pairing two devices;

FIG. 11A is a flowchart outlining verification steps for pairingdevices; and

FIG. 12 shows the signals transmitted and received by two devices ofFIG. 11, where one device authenticates the proximity of another device.

DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 shows a communication system 10 having a first correspondent 20in a communication with a second correspondent 30 over a radio frequency(RF) link 32. A cryptographic engine 34 using a symmetric key 36established during a public key exchange encrypts such communication.The first correspondent 20 is designated an authenticating device andthe second correspondent 30 is designated an authenticated device. Inthe preferred embodiment, the authenticating device 20 may be a mobiletelephone 100 or a personal digital assistant 200 as shown in FIGS. 2and 3 respectively, and the second authenticated device 30, a headset300.

Generally, the mobile telephone 100 includes a processor 110 forexecuting an instruction set for the operation of the mobile telephonehandset 100, including instruction to perform the link keyestablishment. The processor 110 preferably includes a microprocessorand a digital signal processor for manipulating different types ofinformation, such as, sound, images, and video. The processor 110 iscoupled to a BLUETOOTH module 120, such as the ROK 101 007 availablefrom Ericsson Microelectronics, Sweden, for implementing BLUETOOTHfunctionality in the mobile telephone 100. Also coupled to the processor110 is an antenna 130 for transmitting and receiving signals over thewireless RF communication link 32, a speaker 140 and a microphone 150.The telephone 100 also includes other components such as an analog todigital (AID) converter for processing analog sound signals from themicrophone 150 into digital signals for the processor 110, and a digitalto analog (D/A) converter to convert digital sound signals for outputvia the speaker 140. A timer 124 for timing functions, a display 160 aninput device 180 such as a keypad, are also coupled to the processor 110is coupled to. However, the input device 180 may be a keyboard, a touchscreen input, or any other suitable input device. The mobile telephone100 also has a modem coupled to the antenna 130 and associated hardwareand software (not shown) for operating on a communication network suchas a TIA/EIA-95-D system or GSM.

Turning now to FIG. 3, which shows a block diagram of a personal digitalassistant (PDA) 200, which is similar to the mobile telephone 100 andincludes similar components having similar functionalities. However, inthis instance, the PDA may not have a cellular modem. Thus, the PDA 200includes a speaker 210, a microphone 220, a timer 224, a display 260, aprocessor 240 and an input device 250. In addition, coupled to processor240 is an infrared transmitter and receiver module 270, which is capableof transmitting and receiving information using infrared light usingstandards such as the IrDA standards from the infrared Data Association,Walnut Creek, Calif. The PDA 200 may be a PALM ® device available fromPalm Corporation, California, U.S.A.

Now referring to FIG. 4 showing a block diagram of a BLUETOOTH headset300, once again the headset 300 is very similar to mobile telephone 100with similar components having similar functionalities. The headset 300does not have a cellular modem, however. The headset 300 includes aspeaker 310, a microphone 320, an timer 324, an antenna 330, a processor340 and an input device 350 such as a button.

As described above, a pairing procedure enables a user 400 to establisha link key shared between two devices 100 and 300, which are previouslyunknown to one another. A method for performing a pairing procedure twodevices, such as a headset 300 and the telephone 100, is described withreference to FIG. 5 in conjunction with a flow chart of FIG. 5 a.Preferably the headset 300 is ergonomically designed to be worn on thehead of the user 400 such that the speaker 310 is adjacent to the ear ofthe user 400 and the microphone 320 is near the mouth of the user 400.

In step 1 of the method, the user 400 initiates the pairing procedurevia the user interface 160. This may be accomplished by selecting apairing menu item from the display 160 using the input device 180. Step1 also includes the substeps in which the user 400 initiates a wirelesscommunication link 32 between the telephone 100 and the headset 300. Ifthe telephone 100 supports multiple languages, it also sends a messageto the headset 300 indicating the language of the telephone 100, eitherwithin the same message or separately. Typically, since the headset 300is new and unknown to the telephone 100, it accepts the request andbegins the pairing procedure. Alternatively, the headset 300 may requirethe user 400 to confirm the pairing by pressing input device 350 beforeinitiating the pairing procedure. To facilitate this, the headset 300plays an audible message to the user 400 in the preferred languagerequesting the user 400 to initiate the pairing procedure.

When the headset 300 accepts the initiation of the pairing based on theactuation of button 350, it sends a confirmation message to the handset100. In step 2, the handset 100 determines whether the user 400 is readyto begin the pairing procedure, when the user 400 responds positively,the two devices 100 and 300 perform a key agreement.

Preferably the key agreement is an elliptic curve Diffie-Hellman keyagreement, preferred for the fast execution speed of the cryptographicoperations using elliptic curve cryptography. During key agreement, instep 3, each device 100 or 300 exchanges public keys by sending amessage that includes its public key to the other device 100 or 300. Thenext step 4 includes the computation of the shared secret by bothdevices 100 and 300, so that as a result of the key agreement procedure,both devices 100 and 300 have a shared secret value that is used toderive a symmetric key 36.

The symmetric key 36 or antispoof variable or is computed in device 100,300 to ensure that both devices 100, 300 have the same secret key. Theantispoof variable 36 is based upon a one way function of the sharedsecret. However, the antispoof variable 36 may be the shared secretconcatenated with a fixed binary string and input into a SHA-1 hashalgorithm. The output of SHA-1 hash algorithm is then converted todecimal and a predetermined number of least significant digits would beused as the antispoof variable 36. For example, the calculated antispoofvariable 36 is 621413, which is stored temporarily in the processor 110.

In step 5, the handset 100 informs the user 400 via the display 160 thatin order to complete the pairing procedure the user 400 should verifythat each digit that is about to be displayed by the display 160 is thesame as the digit that is announced simultaneously via the speaker 140.The devices 100 and 300 then begin the process of indicating the digitsof the antispoof variable 36 to the user 400 one after the other. Thesimultaneous display and announcement of the digits on either device100, 300 substantially diminishes the threat of man-in-the-middleattack. Therefore, time synchronization of the numbers on the twodevices 100 and 300 is important.

Time synchronization can be achieved for both devices 100 and 300 bybasing the liming of this process on the time of the message with thelast public key is exchanged. The first public key is sent from theheadset 300 to the handset 100 at time t₁, the second public key is sentfrom the handset 100 to the headset 300 at time t₂. The handset 100starts a timer 124 at the time it sends its public key to the headset300. If the message must be retransmitted because of RF factors, thetimer is restarted at the time of a retransmission. The value of thistimer 124 is chosen such that it is at least long enough to allow theelliptic curve Diffie-Hellman computation and the computation of theantispoof variable 36 (on both devices 100 and 300) to complete beforeits expiration.

The headset 300 in turn starts a timer 324 at the time it receives thepublic key from the handset 100. Again, in case of reception of aretransmission, the timer 324 is restarted at the time of reception of aretransmission. The time for this timer 324 is set to the same value asthe handset timer 124. When the timer 124 in the handset 100 expires,the first digit of the antispoof variable 36 is read out by processor110 so that the handset 100 displays a numeral “6” on its display 160,corresponding to the first most significant bit of the antispoofvariable 36. The timer 124 is reset to start a new time interval.

When the timer 324 expires the headset 300 plays an audio representationof “six” in the preferred language and starts a next audio digit timerinterval for timer 324. The value of the next audio digit timer 324interval is long enough to allow sequential audio announcement of theantispoof variable 36 digits. For example, the timer 324 may be 500 msplus the time required to play the digit. The handset 100 displays thefirst digit “6” during the next display digit timer 124 interval and atthe end of that interval it stops displaying the digit. The next displaydigit timer 124 is reset and the, handset 100 displays the next digit inthe antispoof variable 36, namely a numeral “2” on display 160.Likewise, when the next audio digit timer 324 expires, the headset 300plays an audio representation of “two”. The handset 100 the headset 300continue with the subsequent digits in sequence: one, four, one, andthree. The timers 124 and 324 may be likewise used with the subsequentdigits in such a way that a digit is displayed on the handset 300 atsubstantially the same time as the headset 300 is playing it.

Although it has been described that a digit is displayed beginning atexactly the same time as the headset 300 starts to play it, it should benoted that experiments with user reactions to different timing show thatslightly different timing is preferred by users. For example, thedisplay could begin slightly earlier or slightly later. Generally, adigit is displayed at substantially the same time as it is played andthese occurrences need not happen simultaneously. However, the time inbetween such occurrences is such that it is sufficient to substantiallyminimize the threat of a man-in-the-middle attack.

The one-after-the-other timing and synchronization of the digits on thetwo devices 100 and 300 facilitates comparing the digits for the user400. In step 6, after the last digit has been displayed and played, theuser 400 is prompted to acknowledge that the digits matched. Forexample, the handset 100 displays a message to determine whether thedigits displayed by the handset 100 were played by the headset 300 atthe same time. The user 400 can responds by pressing the button 350, orotherwise.

If the user 400 does not give positive confirmation on both devices 100and 300 or if the user 400 indicates a mismatch between digits, thepairing can be aborted, or it can be restarted with a new key agreement.After the user 400 has given positive confirmation on both the headset300 and the handset 100, then the devices 100 and 300 are fullyauthenticated. In the next step 7, the devices 100 and 300 securelyestablish the link key. For example, the devices 100, 300 can bothderive a symmetric encryption key based upon the elliptic curveDiffie-Hellman shared secret. A link key is created, and encrypted usingthe encryption key and send to the other device 300 which decrypts andstores it. The link key is then be used by the devices 100 and 300 forBLUETOOTH authentication and encryption. Alternately, a long PIN may besent from one device 100 to the other encrypted with the encryption key.The other device 300 would then decrypt it and then the devices 100 and300 would establish a link key based upon a shared PIN using thewell-known BLUETOOTH procedure.

In another embodiment, a user 500 using a method for pairing asdescribed above in FIG. 5 a pairs a BLUETOOTH headset 300 and theBLUETOOTH telephone 100, in FIG. 6. In this instance, the telephone 100and the headset are unknown to each other and are being paired for thefirst time. The telephone 100 and headset 300 establish a BLUETOOTHwireless link 32 between each other. The handset 100 indicates to theuser 500 that in order to complete the pairing procedure that the user500 should verify that the digit string that is audibly played by thehandset 100 via speaker 140 and the digit string that is audibly playedby the headset 300 are identical. Typically, the user 500 has thespeaker 310 of headset 300 on one ear and listens to the speaker 140 oftelephone 100 with the other ear. When the user 500 responds that he isready to begin, the two devices 100 and 300 perform a key agreement.Public keys are exchanged and a shared secret and an antispoof variable36 are computed in each device, as described above.

The devices 100 and 300 begin the process of playing the digits of theantispoof variable 36 to the user 500, one after the other, in a timesynchronized manner as described above. A determination is made as towhich device 100 or 300 plays the first digit. This may be based uponthe class of device. For example, a telephone 100 or PDA 200 mightalways initiate the pairing procedure before the headset 300.Alternately, it may be determined based upon some characteristic of eachdevice that is known to both devices 100, 300 and is likely to bedifferent. For example, a BLUETOOTH device address may be used such thata hash function of the two addresses is performed and the device 100 or300 corresponding to the numerically greater outcome is chosen to befirst. In this particular example, the headset 300 would be first. Afterboth devices 100 and 300 have played the last digit, each device 100 and300 prompts the user 500 to acknowledge whether the digits matched. Ifthe digits match then the user 500 confirms this both on the headset 100and the handset 300, then the devices 100 and 300 are fullyauthenticated. In the next step, the devices 100 and 300 securelyestablish the link key as described in the above method. However, if theuser 500 indicates a mismatch between digits, the pairing is aborted, orit can be restarted with a new key agreement.

In another embodiment, two devices 200, 610 such as PDAs are paired withone another, as shown in FIG. 7. The devices 200 and 610 are similar toeach other and belong to user 600 and user 650, respectively. Thedevices are paired using a method for pairing similar to the onedescribed above in FIG. 5 a. Generally, users 600 and 650 are separatedby sufficient distance for both devices 200 and 610 to engage inunassisted, audio and visual communication with one another. In thisinstance, the two users 600, 650 approach each other and the two PDAs200 and 610 establish a BLUETOOTH wireless connection in order toestablish a link key. User 600 indicates via the user interface of PDA200 that he desires to pair with PDA 610.

PDA 200 informs user 600 to verify that the first three digits displayedby PDA 200 are the same digits sent by the user 650 of PDA 610 atsubstantially the same time. Also, the user 610 is to inform the user600 of PDA 200 the next three digits as they are displayed. Similarly,PDA 610 informs user 650 to verify that the first three digits displayedby PDA 610 are the same digits sent by the user 600 of PDA 200 atsubstantially the same time; and the user 600 then to tell the owner ofPDA 200 the next three digits as they are displayed. Once the digitshave been verified, the two devices 200 and 610 perform a key agreement.Public keys are exchanged and a shared secret and an antispoof variable36 are computed in each device, as described above.

In the next step, both devices 200, 610 begin the process of displayingthe digits of the antispoof variable 36 to their users one after theother in a time synchronized manner as described above. The devices 200,610 display the digits at substantially the same time, and the digitsare displayed a long enough time that they can be read by the users 600,650. The displays are blanked for a predetermined time period betweenthe display of digits.

After both devices 200 and 610 have played the last digit, each device200 and 610 prompts the users 600 and 650 respectively to acknowledgewhether the digits matched. If the digits are a match then the user 600confirms this on the PDA 200 and the user 650 confirms the match on thePDA 610, then the devices 200 and 610 are fully authenticated. In thenext step, the devices securely establish the link key as described inthe above method. However, if the user 600 or 650 indicates a mismatchbetween digits, the pairing is aborted, or it can be restarted with anew key agreement. Because the procedure is performed with PDAs 200 and610 in close proximity, the opportunity for a man-in-the-middle attackis reduced.

In another embodiment, two devices 300, 710 in FIG. 8, such as headsets,are paired with one another. The devices 300 and 710 are similar to eachother and belong to users 700 and 750, respectively. The devices arepaired using a method for pairing similar to the one described above inFIG. 5 a. The users 700 and 750 are separated by a sufficient distancefor both devices to engage in unassisted audio and visual communicationwith one another. In this instance the two users 700, 750 approach eachother in order to establish a link key

According to a variation of this embodiment, the two headsets 300 and710 establish a BLUETOOTH wireless link 32 between each other. User 700indicates via the user interface of headset 300 that he desires to pairwith headset 710 and the headset 300 sends a message to headset 710indicating that it desires to pair with headset 710. Once the users 700and 750 accept the pairing, the procedure continues The headset 300indicates to user 700 to inform the user 750 the first three digits asthey are played and to then verify that the subsequent three digits sentby the user 750 correspond to the values heard from headset 300 atsubstantially the same time. Similarly, headset 710 indicates to user750 to verify that the first three digits played by headset 710 are thesame digits as told by the user 700 at substantially the same time andinform the user 700 the next three digits immediately after they areplayed. Once the digits have been verified, the two devices 300 and 710perform a key agreement. Public keys are exchanged and a shared secretand an antispoof variable 36 are computed in each device, as describedabove.

In the next step, both headsets 300, 710 begin the process of playingthe digits of the antispoof variable 36 to their users 700 and 750 oneafter the other, in a time synchronized manner as described above. Theheadsets 300, 710 play the digits, either audibly or through a visualsignal, and the user 750 then verifies the digit as played on headset710. After both devices 300 and 710 have played the last digit, eachdevice 300 and 710 prompts the users 700 and 750 respectively toacknowledge whether the digits matched. If the digits are a match thenthe user 700 confirms this on the headset 300 and the user 750 confirmsthe match on the headset 710, then the devices 300 and 710 are fullyauthenticated. In the next step, the devices securely establish the linkkey as described in the above method of flowchart of FIG. 5 a. However,if the user 700 or 750 indicates a mismatch between digits, the pairingis aborted, or it can be restarted with a new key agreement.

According to a second variation of the method of FIG. 8, headsets 300and 710 both include voice recognition technology. The headset 300indicates to user 760 to inform the user 750 of the first three digits,each immediately after it is played by headset 300; and that the user700 is to then speak into the microphone of headset 300 the subsequentthree digits told to user 700 by the user 750, each immediately afterthey are told. Similarly, headset 710 indicates to user 750 that theuser 750 is to speak into the microphone of headset 710 the first threedigits told to him by the user 700 of headset 300, each immediatelyafter they are told and that the user 750 is to inform the user 700 ofheadset 300 the next three digits, each immediately after they areplayed by headset 710. Once the digits have been verified, the twodevices 300 and 710 perform a key agreement. Public keys are exchangedand a shared secret and an antispoof variable 36 are computed in eachdevice, as described above.

One headset 300 begins the process of playing the first three digits ofthe antispoof variable 36 to its user 700 while the other headset 710begins the process of detecting via voice recognition technology thefirst three digits of the antispoof variable 36 as spoken by user 750.Time synchronization of this process between the two headsets 300, 710is important. This can be achieved by basing the timing of this processon the time of the message with the last public key being exchanged. Theheadset 710 attempting to detect that its user 750 speaks theappropriate digit of the antispoof variable 36 will do this in a windowof time shortly after the other headset 300 plays that digit of theantispoof variable 36 to its user 700. After each digit has been played,there is a pause of length long enough to allow the user 700 to indicatethe digit just played to the other user 750 and for the other user 750to speak the digit into the microphone of headset 710.

Timers can be used to regulate the times at which digits are played andthe timing windows to be used for voice recognition of spoken digits ina similar manner, as described above with respect to FIG. 5. After bothheadsets 300, 710 have detected that the correct digits of the antispoofvariable 36 were spoken into their microphones during the appropriatetiming windows, then the headsets 300, 710 are fully authenticated. Thedevices 300, 710 can securely establish the link key as described above.If an incorrect digit is detected during a timing window or if thecorrect digit is not detected during a timing window, the pairing can beaborted, or it can be restarted with a new key agreement.

In another embodiment, a pairing procedure is performed between twodevices 200, 810 that support infrared communication, in FIG. 9. Thedevices 200 and 810 are similar to each other and belong to users 800and 850, respectively. Generally, the devices 200, 810 are paired usinga method for pairing similar to the one described above in FIG. 5 a. InFIG. 9, the users 800 and 850 are adjacent to one another and pointingtheir devices 200 and 810 at each other in such a way as to enable themto communicate with each other via infrared light. Cone 805 representsthe coverage space or range of the infrared signal from device 200.Similarly, cone 815 represents coverage space or range of the infraredsignal from device 810. The devices 200 and 810 are positionable suchthat device 810 is within cone 805, while device 200 is within cone 815.Although FIG. 9 uses a PDA as an example, the same procedure may be usedto pair any two devices capable of infrared communication, such as twotelephones.

Following the steps of the above mentioned, PDAs 200 and 810 establish aBLUETOOTH wireless link 32 between each other. PDA 200 indicates to user800 to point PDA 200 at PDA 810 and similarly PDA 810 indicates to user850 to point PDA 810 at PDA 200, so that the PDAs 200 and 810 are in theeach other line of sight for IR communications. The PDAs 200, 810 thenperform a key agreement via the wireless link 32. Public keys are thenexchanged and the devices 200, 810 then compute a shared secret.

In the next step, each device 200, 810 compute two antispoof variables36 based upon the shared secret, one for itself and one for the otherdevice 200, 810. An antispoof variable 36 is computed based upon a pieceof information known to both devices but different from each other, suchas the BLUETOOTH device address. For example, PDA 200 computes itsantispoof variable 36 by concatenating its BLUETOOTH device address withthe shared secret and then inputting the result into the hash algorithm,such as SHA-1. Thus the output of hash algorithm is PDA 200's antispoofvariable 36. Similarly, PDA 200 could compute PDA 810's antispoofvariable 36 by concatenating PDA 810's BLUETOOTH device address with theshared secret and then inputting the result into the SHA-1 hashalgorithm. The output of SHA-1 is the PDA 810's antispoof variable 36.Alternately, PDA 810 performs similar calculations to compute PDA 200'santi-spoof variable 36. Unlike the antispoof variable 36 of the priorexamples, the antispoof variable 36 used in this application need not bemade small for the sake of verification by a human since it istransmitted via infrared; therefore, the antispoof variable 36 is madelonger.

PDA 200 transmits its own antispoof variable 36 to PDA 810 over theinfrared link 32, and similarly, PDA 810 transmits its own antispoofvariable 36 to PDA 200 over the infrared link. 32. PDA 810 receives PDA200's antispoof variable 36 over the infrared link 32 and compares thereceived value to its internally computed value; if the two match, theother device has been authenticated, and vice versa. After PDAs 200, 810verify the antispoof variable 36 from the other PDA, 200, 810 are fullyauthenticated, then a link key is securely established as described withrespect to FIG. 5. If one of the antispoof variables 36 does not matchthe expected value, the pairing can be aborted, or it can be restartedwith a new key agreement.

It should be noted that the limited range of the infrared light providessubstantial protection against a man-in-the-middle attacker, as theattacker would have to be able to receive the infrared light withincones 805 and 815 to perpetrate an attack. The attacker would also haveto be able to transmit infrared light to both devices 200 and 810. Itshould be noted that a very similar procedure might be used by a singleuser to pair two devices.

In yet another embodiment, in FIG. 10 two devices 200, 910 that supportaudio communication, are paired together using a method as describedabove in FIG. 5 a. However, in the method does not require a user 900 tomanually check an antispoof variable 36. PDA 910 is similar to PDA 200and both have a microphone and a speaker. User 900 is holding the PDAsclose together in such a way that sound from the speaker of PDA 200readily detectable by the microphone of PDA 910 and vice versa. PDAs 200and 910 establish a BLUETOOTH wireless link 32 between each other. User900 indicates via the user interfaces of PDA 200 and PDA 910 that hedesires to pair the devices with each other.

The PDAs 200, 910 perform a key agreement, during which public keys areexchanged and a shared secret is computed. In the following step, eachdevice 200, 910 compute two antispoof variables 36 based upon the sharedsecret, one for itself and one for the other device. An antispoofvariable 36 is computed based upon a piece of information known to bothdevices 200, 910, as described above.

PDA 200 transmits its own antispoof variable 36 to PDA 910 using itsspeaker and a suitable audio modulation scheme such as audio frequencyshift keying (AFSK). Similarly, PDA 910 transmits its own antispoofvariable 36 to PDA 200 using its speaker and a suitable audio modulationscheme such as AFSK. PDA 910 receives PDA 200's antispoof variable 36 bydemodulating the audio received from its microphone and compare thereceived value to its internally computed value, if the two match, theother device has been authenticated. Similarly, PDA 200 receives PDA910's antispoof variable 36 by demodulating the audio received from itsmicrophone and compare the received value to its internally computedvalue, if the two match, the other device 200 is then authenticated. Ifone of the antispoof variables 36 does not match the expected value, thepairing is aborted, or it can be restarted with a new key agreement.After PDAs 200, 910 verify the antispoof variable 36 from one another,they are then fully authenticated. The PDAs 200, 910 then securelyestablish the link key as described with respect to FIG. 5. Thus, thismethod provides substantial protection against the possibility of aman-in-the-middle attack, although a man-in-the-middle attacker may beable to perpetrate an attack if the attacker had equipment capable ofreceiving the audio from devices 200 and 910 and capable of transmittingaudio to devices 200 and 910.

In yet another embodiment, a link key is established between two devices200, 1010, as shown in FIG. 11. This method does not require a user 1000to manually verify an antispoof variable 36 to on both devices 200,1010. Furthermore, the method provides substantial more protectionagainst the possibility of a man-in-the-middle attack than the previousembodiment. PDA 1010 is similar to PDA 200, which includes a microphoneand a speaker. In order to initiate the pairing procedure, the user 1000positions the PDAs 200, 1010 adjacent to each other in such a way thatsound from the speaker of PDA 200 readily detectable by the microphoneof PDA 1010 and vice versa. Typically, PDA 200 is within one foot of PDA1010. Although in this embodiment PDAs 200, 1010 are used, the sameprocedure-may be used to pair other devices with the similar attributes.FIG. 1 shows a space of coverage represented by sphere 1005 which iscentered on PDA 200, with a radius 1007. Also, a space of coveragerepresented by sphere 1015 has a radius comparable to radius 1017 andwhich is centered on PDA 1010. Therefore, PDA 200 is within sphere 1015and PDA 1010 is within sphere 1005.

The method of this embodiment minimizes a man-in-the-middle attack frombeing perpetrated based upon the distance between the devices 200, 1010being paired. The user 1000 of the devices 200, 1010 brings the devices200, 1010 within a predetermined distance of one another. As long as thedevices 200, 1010 are within this predetermined distance, they can bepaired. If the distance between the devices 200, 1010 exceeds thispredetermined distance, pairing is not allowed. The effect of this isthat an attacker would also be required to be within the predetermineddistance of both devices being paired in order to perpetrate aman-in-the-middle attack. Since the user 1000 of the two devices 200,1010 can be confident of the physical security of the immediate areasurrounding the devices 200, 1010, the man-in-the-middle attack cansubstantially diminished. For example, this predetermined distance maybe equal to the dimensions of radius 1007 or 1017, which is one foot.The user 1000 of FIG. 11 may be in a crowded room fill of people withBLUETOOTH devices within radio range of PDA 200 and PDA 1010. TheBLUETOOTH devices of the other people may all be potentialman-in-the-middle attackers, but since the user 1000 can be confidentthat they are all further than one foot or some other predetermineddistance from his BLUETOOTH devices 200, 1010. Thus, the user 1000 issubstantially safe from a man-in-the-middle attack while pairing PDAs200, 1010.

Returning to FIG. 11, in order to overcome the man-in-the-middle attack,both devices 200, 1010 perform a key agreement, and then each device200, 1010 computes two separate antispoof variables 36 based on theshared secret (one for itself and one for the other device). The devices200, 1010 then authenticate each other based upon distance from oneanother. A secure method to determine the distance from one device 200to the other device 1010 follows and is used for the authenticationbased upon distance. A device 200 securely determines the distance tothe other device 1010 using a challenge. In FIG. 11, the challenge is arandom number with the same number of bits as the antispoof variable 36;the random number acts as a challenge of the authenticated device 1010.The authenticating device 200 transmits the challenge to theauthenticated device 1010 in multiple portions. As an example, therandom number is transmitted one bit at a time, starting with the mostsignificant bit and continuing with successively less significant bits.The authenticated device 1010 transmits a response to each portion ofthe challenge after receipt of the portion of the challenge. Theauthenticated device 1010 generates the response by inputting thereceived portion of the challenge and a particular piece of informationinto a function whose output is the response.

It is important that the function generates a response that varies bothdepending upon the received portion of the challenge and also dependingupon the particular piece of information. The response is preferablyshort and equal in length to the received portion of the challenge. Theparticular piece of information may be an antispoof variable 36 or, ifpublic key cryptography is used, the authenticated device 1010's privatekey. If public key cryptography is used, it is substantially difficultfor an attacker to determine the private key based on the output of thefunction. In FIG. 11, the response is a single bit and is the output ofan exclusive or (XOR) function whose inputs are the just received bit ofthe random number and a bit of the device's antispoof variable 36 (whichmay be one based upon its own address). For example, the first responsebit is formed by taking the XOR of the received most significant bit ofthe random number and the most significant bit of the antispoof variable36; subsequent response bits are formed by taking the XOR of thereceived bit of the random number and subsequently less significantbits.

Generally, the time between the reception of the portion of thechallenge by the authenticated device 1010 and the transmission of theresponse is related to the amount of time it takes for the transmittedsignal to travel a distance twice the tolerable error in measurement.For example, suppose that the authenticating device 200 wishes that theauthenticated device 1010 to be no more than one foot away then theauthenticating device 200 permits one half foot of error for processingtime, however. In a case where RF is used to transmit the portion of thechallenge and the response, one nanosecond of processing time is allowedfor a half of a foot of error because the speed of light is about onefoot per nanosecond. In a case where audio is used to transmit therandom bit and the response, one millisecond of processing time isallowed for a half of a foot of error because the speed of sound isabout one foot per millisecond. The authenticated device 1010 isconfigured to return a response within this amount of processing time,since longer processing times would give an attacker an opportunity toappear to be closer. Accordingly, in FIG. 11, the shared secret andantispoof variable 36 are precomputed and the only computation requiredby the authenticated device 1010 is an XOR of a single bit which,according to current technology, can easily be performed within anamount of time that would correspond to an acceptably short errordistance devoted to processing time for either RF or audio signaltransmission.

Correspondingly, the amount of time required to transmit the portion ofthe challenge by the authenticating device is related to the amount oftime it takes for the transmitted signal to travel a distance twice thetolerable error in measurement. The reason is that many modulationschemes provide redundant information that may be used by an attacker todetermine a transmitted bit's value before the entire transmission timeallocated to the bit. For example, suppose that a CDMA modulation schemeis used for an RF transmission of a single random bit and that the timerequired for a single modulation symbol were one microsecond and thatthe spreading of the random bit with the spreading code resulted in tenmodulation symbols (10 microseconds) required to transmit the randombit. The authenticated device 1010 is then allowed the full tenmicroseconds to despread and recover the bit. If there were nointerference, however, an attacker could potentially recover the valueof the random bit after a single modulation symbol (one microsecond);the attacker could then immediately transmit a response and appear to beabout 4500 feet closer than he actually is (9 microseconds*1foot/nanosecond*1000 nanoseconds/microseconds/2=4500 feet).

As another example suppose that an AFSK modulation scheme is used for anaudio transmission of the random bit and that the time required for asingle bit were 50 milliseconds and that the frequency used for a logicone were 1.200 Hz and that the frequency used for a logic zero were 1800Hz. The authenticated device 1010 is then allowed the fall, 50milliseconds to recover the bit. An attacker can recover the value ofthe random bit after a single cycle at 1200 Hz. The attacker can thenimmediately transmit a response and appear to be about 49 feet closerthan he actually is (50 milliseconds −1/1.2 kHz)*1foot/millisecond/2=49.17 feet). For example suppose that theauthenticating device 200 wishes that the authenticated device 1016 tobe no more than one foot away, the authenticating device 200 permits onehalf foot of error, however. In the case where RF is used to transmitthe random bit and the response, one nanosecond transmission time forthe, bit is allowed for a half of a foot of error because the speed oflight is about one foot per nanosecond. In the case audio is used totransmit the random bit and the response, one millisecond oftransmission time for the bit is allowed for a half of a foot of errorbecause the speed of sound is about one foot per millisecond.

Now referring to the flowchart of FIG. 11 a, generally one challenge bitis transmitted by authenticating device 200 to the authenticated device1010 during a single transmission time period, in step 40. However, itis possible to transmit more than one challenge bit during a singletransmission time period as long as the transmission time period isstill short enough that it is less than the amount of time it takes forthe transmitted signal to travel a distance twice the tolerable error inmeasurement. In step 42, the authenticating device 200 measures the timeof the response from authenticated device 1010. In the following step44, the authenticating device 200 determines whether the response is afunction of the portion of the challenge that was transmitted and theparticular piece of information in the authenticated device 1010. If theresponse meets these two requirements, the process proceeds to the nextstep 46, else authentication fails and can be restarted. Thisverification function may be performed with an antispoof variable 36 or,if public key cryptography is used, the authenticated device 1010'spublic key. It should be noted that the verification function does notnecessarily need to operate on one response at a time; it couldpotentially operate on a number of responses combined. In FIG. 11, theauthenticating device 200 measures the time of the response bit and alsotake the XOR of the response bit with the random bit to which theresponse bit is a response and verifies that it is the same as theappropriate bit of the antispoof variable 36.

Upon reception of the response, the authenticating device 200 determinesthe round trip time from the time the transmittal of the challenge andthe time of the response. In step 46, the authenticating device 200 thenmultiplies this time by the speed of the signal used and divides it bytwo to determine the distance of device 1010 from device 200. Adetermination is made by device 200 as to whether the other device 1010is within the maximum allowed distance, in step 48. If the other device1010 is not within the maximum allowed distance then the authenticationprocess is aborted and can be restarted. However, if the other device1010 is determined to be within the maximum allowed distance, then theauthenticating device 200 proceeds with the authentication process, instep 50. In order to pass the authentication, a number of response bitsmust be checked since an attacker could guess correctly half of thetime. A number of bit errors may be allowed to allow for transmissionerrors, but the number of correct bits must be substantially close to100% of the bits. Furthermore, in FIG. 11 this entire process may berepeated with additional antispoof variables 36 generated with differentinputs to the hash function. The number of correct bits could then bemeasured over a number of attempts. However, preferably the sameantispoof variable 36 is not verified more than twice because anattacker could determine the antispoof variable 36 after the firstverification.

Referring to FIG. 12, there is shown in detail some of the signalstransmitted and received by devices 200 and 1010 when device 200authenticates the proximity of device 1010. Before the period shown byFIG. 12, the devices have already performed a key agreement and havecomputed device 1010's antispoof variable 36. FIG. 12 shows thetransmission of two random bits by device 200, the reception of therandom bits by device 1010, the transmission of two response bits bydevice 1010, and the reception of two response bits by device 200. Thefirst (most significant) random bit is zero; the second random bit isone. The most significant bit of device 1010's antispoof variable 36 iszero; the next most significant bit is one. The predetermined distanceallowed 1007 is assumed to be one foot. The actual distance betweendevice 200 and device 1010 is assumed to be 10 inches. Furthermore onehalf foot of error is tolerated for processing time and due to themodulation of the random bits. From the previous discussion, one can seethat authenticating using RF signals may be difficult depending upon theRF technology used.

BLUETOOTH wireless technology operates in the 2400 to 2483.5 MHz bandand uses Gaussian Frequency Shift Keying modulation and a symbol rate of1 million symbols per second. Furthermore, the BLUETOOTH physical layeris not designed in such a way as to facilitate quickly changing betweentransmit and receive modes. The processing and response times toauthenticate using BLUETOOTH RF signals would have to be much smaller(about one nanosecond) than they actually are. Authenticating with audiois reasonable for a BLUETOOTH device including audio components.However, it is assumed that the atmospheric conditions are such that thespeed of sound is exactly one foot per second. For one half foot oferror, one millisecond is allocated for processing time and fortransmission of the random bit.

Using the processor 240 of a conventional BLUETOOTH device 200 or 1010,the processing time required is measured in microseconds and isnegligible compared to one millisecond. Using conventional audiomodulation techniques, it is reasonable to send a single random bitwithin one millisecond with time to spare. Assuming that AFSK modulationis used at 1200 bits per second (one bit requires 0.833 milliseconds),then one cycle of 1200 Hz is used to represent a logic one, while oneand a half cycles of 1800 Hz is used to represent a logic zero. Thedevice 200 transmits (Tx) random bits using its speaker and device 1010receives (Rx) the random bits using its microphone. Device 1010transmits (Tx) response bits using its speaker, device 200 receives (Rx)the bits using its microphone. The intervals in FIG. 12 correspond totimes 1/1200 second in length and are the times required to transmit asingle bit. Since the distance between the devices 200 1010 is 10inches, this 1/1200 second bit time also corresponds exactly to theamount of time it takes for sound to travel from one device to theother. At time 1 device 200 transmits a zero; at time 2 device 200transmits a one. These first two bits are a predetermined and are usedby device 1010 to synchronize with the signal transmitted by device 200.Generally other synchronization techniques may be used, for example, along synchronization word may be sent by device 200 followed by randombits one at a time at predetermined intervals after the synchronizationword.

At time 3 device 200 transmits the first random bit, zero. At times 2,3, and 4, device 1010 receives these three bits. Device 1010 determinesthat the value of the bit received at time 4 is zero and then XORs thatwith the most significant bit of its antispoof variable 36 (zero) toarrive at the result of zero. The result of zero is then transmitted bydevice 1010 at time 5 and device 1010 then transmits zero and one attimes 6 and 7, respectively. These two bits transmitted at times 6 and 7can be used by device 200 for synchronization. In another example,device 1010 could alternatively transmit a long synchronization word inresponse to a synchronization word from device 200; then it couldtransmit response bits one after the other in response to the receivedrandom bits. Device 200 receives the three bits from device 1010 attimes 6, 7, and 8, and recovers the bit zero at time 6. Device 200 couldtake advantage of the synchronization bits at times 7 and 8 by samplingfor three bit periods and working backwards to time 6 after recognizingthe synchronization bits.

Next, the device 200 makes a distance calculation as follows based uponthe time difference between the beginning of time period 6 and the endof time period 3 (2*0.833 milliseconds): distance=2*0.833milliseconds*one foot/millisecond/2=0.833 feet. Since the calculateddistance is less than one foot, the distance is authenticated. Device200 then XORs the received response bit zero with the random bit zero toarrive at zero. Device 200 then compares zero to the most significantbit of device 1010's antispoof variable 36 (zero), and since they arethe same, the first bit is effectively verified. At time 10 device 200transmits a zero and at time 11 device 200 transmits a one. These firsttwo bits are synchronization bits as were the bits transmitted at times1 and 2. At time 12 device 200 transmits the second random bit, one andat times 11, 12, and 13, device 1010 receives these three bits. Device1010 determines that the value of the bit received at time 13 is one andthen XORs that with the second most significant bit of its antispoofvariable 36 (one) to arrive at the result of zero. The result of zero isthen transmitted by device 1010 at time 14 transmits synchronizationbits (not shown). Device 200 receives the response bit from device 1010at time 15 and device 200 recovers the bit zero at time 15 and makes adistance calculation as previously described. Since the calculateddistance is less than one foot, the distance is authenticated. Device200 then XORs the received response bit zero with the random bit one toarrive at one. Device 200 then compares one to the most significant bitof device 1010's antispoof variable 36 (one). Since they are the same,the second bit is effectively verified. The same procedure is continuedfor the remainder of the random bits and the bits of device 1010 santispoof variable 36. Device 1010 is considered authenticated when asufficient percentage of the bits are verified. Similarly, device 1010would then authenticate device 200.

Thereafter, the key agreement protocol proceeds as described above.Although BLUETOOTH RF signals are not suitable for the distanceauthentication, it should be noted that radios using certain other RFtechnologies would be suitable for implementing distance authenticationusing RF signals. In fact, for a pair of radios including such, asuitable technology, distance authentication using RF signals ispreferable to distance authentication using audio signals. According toUltra-Wideband technology, very low-power radio pulses are transmittedthat cover a large range of frequency spectrum of 1 GHz to 4 GHz, forexample. The pulses can be so short as to be measured in the hundreds ofpicoseconds. A data bit may be modulated by time shifting thetransmitted pulse; for example, a pulse advanced in time by a fewpicoseconds could represent a logic zero while a pulse delayed by a fewpicoseconds could represent logic one. With this sort of modulationscheme, an ultra-wideband radio performing a distance authentication cantransmit a random challenge bit in a short enough time as to preclude anattacker from demodulating the bit substantially sooner than theauthenticated device 1010. As long as the authenticated device 1010 candemodulate the random bit and transmit the response using a small amountof processing time (1 ns for ½ foot of error) and as long as theauthenticating device 200 can demodulate and measure the time of theresponse, ultra-wideband radio technology can be used to providelocation based authentication while preventing a man-in-the-middleattack.

Although FIG. 12 shows gaps with no audio transmitted by theauthenticating device 200 when it is waiting for a response and with noaudio transmitted by the authenticated device 1010 when it is waitingfor the next random bit, it is possible to eliminate these gaps. If theauthenticating device 200 and the authenticated device 1010 both haveaudio cancellation capability as is well known, they can cancel theknown signal they transmit from their speaker from the received signalreceived by their microphones. This would enable both to transmit at thesame time without impairing their ability to receive the other's signal.The authenticating device 200 could transmit the random bits one afterthe other without any synchronization bits between them; similarly, theauthenticated device 1010 could transmit the response bits one after theother without any synchronization bits between them. In this case, thesynchronization could occur via a synchronization word and responsetransmitted before the first random bit is transmitted.

Various modifications of the above-described methods are possible. Forexample, it may be possible to securely determine the distance betweentwo devices by sending the challenge using an audio signal and receivingthe response via an RF signal, or by sending the challenge using an RFsignal and receiving the response using an audio signal.

The above-described embodiments of the invention are intended to beexamples of the present invention and alterations and modifications maybe effected thereto, by those of skill in the art, without departingfrom the scope of the invention which is defined solely by the claimsappended hereto.

1. A method of establishing a link key between a first device operableto authenticate a second device, the method comprising: the first devicepermitting non-sensitive communications with the second device when thefirst and second devices are spaced from each other within a firstoperating range; the first device permitting sensitive communicationswith the second device only when the first and second devices are spacedfrom each other within a second operating range, the second operatingrange being less than the first operating range; upon detectinginitiation of a pairing process for establishing the link key, the firstdevice sending a challenge to the second device to both verify theidentity of the second device and determine a distance between the firstand second devices; the first device receiving, from the second device,a response to the challenge; the first device determining whether theresponse is a function of at least a portion of the challenge andinformation in the second device; the first device using the response toalso determine a response time associated with receipt of the responseto the challenge; the first device using the response time to determinethe distance between the first and second devices; and if the distancebetween the first and second devices is within the second operatingrange, and the response is a function of both at least a portion of thechallenge and information in the second device, initiating anauthentication process to establish the link key in the first device topermit the link key to be used in subsequent communications.
 2. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein if the response is not a functionof at least a portion of the challenge and information in the seconddevice, the method is aborted prior to determining the distance betweenthe first and second devices.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein sending the challenge and receiving the response comprisessending the challenge in multiple portions and receiving multipleresponses.
 4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the challengecomprises a random number having a plurality of bits, and wherein saidsending the challenge in multiple portions comprises sending a mostsignificant bit and continuing successively with less significant bits.5. The method according to claim 1, wherein the response time is relatedto an amount of time it takes for a transmitted signal to travel adistance twice a tolerable error in measurement.
 6. The method accordingto claim 1, wherein multiplying the response time by a speed associatedwith a signal type used and dividing this by two computes the distance.7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the challenge and responseare exchanged using any one of the following signals: a radio frequency(RF) signal, an ultra-wideband signal, a sound signal, a Bluetoothsignal, and an infrared (IR) signal.
 8. A communication device operableto communicate over a communication link, the communication devicecomprising: a processor and a memory, the memory comprising computerexecutable instructions that, when executed, cause the processor to beoperable to: permit non-sensitive communications with another devicewhen it and the other device are spaced from each other within a firstoperating range; permit sensitive communications with the other deviceonly when the communication device and the other device are spaced fromeach other within a second operating range, the second operating rangebeing less than the first operating range; upon detecting initiation ofa pairing process for establishing the link key, send a challenge to theother device to both verify the identity of the other device anddetermine a distance between the communication device and the otherdevice; receive, from the other device, a response to the challenge;determine whether the response is a function of at least a portion ofthe challenge and information in the other device; use the response toalso determine a response time associated with receipt of the responseto the challenge; use the response time to determine the distancebetween it and the other device; and if the distance between it and theother device is within the second operating range, and the response is afunction of both at least a portion of the challenge and information inthe other device, initiate an authentication process to establish thelink key in the communication device to permit the link key to be usedin subsequent communications.
 9. The device according to claim 8,wherein if the response is not a function of at least a portion of thechallenge and information in the other device, the authenticationprocess is aborted prior to determining the distance between thecommunication device and the other device.
 10. The device according toclaim 8, wherein the challenge and the response are sent and received bysending the challenge in multiple portions and receiving multipleresponses.
 11. The device according to claim 10, wherein the challengecomprises a random number having a plurality of bits, and wherein saidsending the challenge in multiple portions comprises sending a mostsignificant bit and continuing successively with less significant bits.12. The device according to claim 8, wherein the response time isrelated to an amount of time it takes for a transmitted signal to travela distance twice a tolerable error in measurement.
 13. The deviceaccording to claim 8, wherein multiplying the response time by a speedassociated with a signal type used and dividing this by two computes thedistance.
 14. The device according to claim 8, wherein the communicationlink is operable to exchange the challenge and response using any one ofthe following signals: a radio frequency (RF) signal, an ultra-widebandsignal, a sound signal, a Bluetooth signal, and an infrared (IR) signal.15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computerexecutable instructions for having a communication device communicateover a communication link, the computer executable instructionscomprising instructions for: permitting non-sensitive communicationswith another device when it and the other device are spaced from eachother within a first operating range; permitting sensitivecommunications with the other device only when it and the other deviceare spaced from each other within a second operating range, the secondoperating range being less than the first operating range; upondetecting initiation of a pairing process for establishing the link key,sending a challenge to the other device to both verify the identity ofthe other device and determine a distance between it and the other;receiving, from the other device, a response to the challenge;determining whether the response is a function of at least a portion ofthe challenge and information in the other device; using the response toalso determine a response time associated with receipt of the responseto the challenge; using the response time to determine the distancebetween it and the other device; and if the distance between it and theother device is within the second operating range, and the response is afunction of both at least a portion of the challenge and information inthe other device, initiating an authentication process to establish thelink key in the communication device to permit the link key to be usedin subsequent communications prior to determining the distance betweenthe communication device and the other device.
 16. The medium accordingto claim 15, wherein if the response is not a function of at least aportion of the challenge and information in the other device, theauthentication process is aborted.
 17. The medium according to claim 15,wherein the challenge and the response are sent and received by sendingthe challenge in multiple portions and receiving multiple responses. 18.The medium according to claim 17, wherein the challenge comprises arandom number having a plurality of bits, and wherein said sending thechallenge in multiple portions comprises sending a most significant bitand continuing successively with less significant bits.
 19. The mediumaccording to claim 15, wherein the response time is related to an amountof time it takes for a transmitted signal to travel a distance twice atolerable error in measurement.
 20. The medium according to claim 15,wherein multiplying the response time by a speed associated with asignal type used and dividing this by two computes the distance.
 21. Themedium according to claim 15, wherein the communication link is operableto exchange the challenge and response using any one of the followingsignals: a radio frequency (RF) signal, an ultra-wideband signal, asound signal, a Bluetooth signal, and an infrared (IR) signal.